Ruffled Denim Table Runner {With tutorial}

Alright my friends, I am so excited about this project!!  I started it Friday afternoon and ended up staying up till 1 a.m. to finish it.  You know how you start a project and get caught up in it and can't wait to finish?!  That was how I felt with this project.

I know you must have seen the gorgeous ruffled burlap table runner over at Tatertots & Jello.  Holy cuteness!

Well, I loved the ruffles and wanted to make a table runner for our little {tiny} kitchen table.  I have been trying to bring in a lot of red's into my very-brown living room and kitchen--which is pretty much the same room in our {tiny} apartment!  So I put my own spin on Jen's fabulous idea with my denim ruffled table runner.  Here is what I did to whip this up:


Disclaimer:  As always, I am sure there is an easier, cuter, or more efficient way to do things.  This is what I did, and this is what worked for me!

I bought 5 different fabrics (about 1/3 yard each).  I planned to do some red and white, and then suddenly I realized it would look red-white-and-blue, and kind of liked that idea... so I went with it!


Anyway, I cut strips of fabric that were 36 inches long (except with my white fabric, I only had 22 inches length to work with, so I made them 22 inches long and gathered these ruffles LESS.)  I varied up the width from 2.5 to 3.5 inches wide.  I needed 2 strips per ruffle, so I pinned 2 of these together, wrong sides together.

To prevent fraying, I zigzagged around the entire strip.  There is still some fraying, but again, I like the way that worked with the denim.

Next, I sewed down the center of each fabric strip without backstitching at all.  I pulled on a thread to gather the ruffle together.  I wanted the ruffles to end up being about 17 inches long, so I measured them until I got the length I wanted.
Then I sewed over my center stitch again to secure each ruffle--and this time I backstitched.  I created about 14 or 15 ruffles for my table runner, but you could do more or less depending on the look you want.

I measured a table runner I already had because I knew it would look good on my table.  I started with about 1 3/4 yards of denim (50% off at JoAnn's last week!).  I folded my denim in half and measured out 70 inches long and 18 inches wide.  I cut my 2 pieces for the front and back.

I decided I wanted a ribbon edge, so I bought a roll of about 15 yards of this adorable red polk-a-dot ribbon.  I used Wonder Under to adhere the ribbon to all 4 edges of my runner.  I adhered the ribbon about 1/2 inch from each edge, leaving room for my seams.

After ironing the ribbon on, I sewed all the way around the ribbon.  I sewed both the outer and inner edges for added security.

Now for the fun part!!  I arranged the ruffles where I wanted them and pinned them onto the denim.  Pin very carefully because it is very easy to sew a ruffle crooked... at least for me.  A couple of them snaked around on me!

After all of the ruffles were sewed in place, I pinned the top denim piece (with the ruffles) to the bottom denim piece, right sides together.  Then it was time to sew, baby, sew!  I left a 1/2 inch seam allowance around all 4 edges and sewed all the way around, leaving a good-sized opening to turn it inside out.

Then I turned it all the way inside out, admired my work, and sewed up the opening by hand.

I pressed all the way around my edges to be sure the ribbon would lie flat (it was so close to my seam, it needed a little extra help.)  And then I trimmed up all of those extra threads...

So here it is.  What do you think??  Now I just need to decide what kind of centerpiece would look good.  Any ideas???  Any flower experts out there??  I would love your input.


Have a wonderful week... and thanks for stopping by!!

PS I currently have 199 followers.  Would anyone like to push me into the 200's??  I do have a give-away up my sleeve for reaching the 200-mark!!